An explosion shook a rebel-controlled area in northern Syria across the border with Turkey on Sunday night, killing at least five people and injuring dozens, opposition activists and Turkish state media reported. .
The car bomb exploded near the Bab al-Salameh border crossing with Turkey, according to reports. The area is controlled by opposition fighters backed by Turkey.
The blast killed seven and injured more than 60, including women and children, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Other opposition activists said the blast killed five and injured dozens.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported that at least five civilians were killed and 85 wounded in the blast. The agency said some of the critically ill wounded were taken to Turkey for treatment.
He said no one claimed responsibility for the attack, adding that Kurdish fighters have carried out such attacks in the past.
The bombing took place on the same day as the parliamentary elections in the government-controlled areas of Syria. [Saher El Hacci/Anadolu]
Anadolu reported that another blast earlier Sunday wounded 13 people, including children, in the Syrian city of Afrin, controlled by opposition fighters backed by Turkey.
Sunday’s attacks occurred when parliamentary elections were held in parts of the war-torn country. As in previous elections in Syria, the vote could produce a body of stamps loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey and allied Syrian fighters took control of Afrin in 2018 in a military operation that drove out US-backed local Kurdish fighters and displaced tens of thousands of Kurdish residents.
Ankara considers the Kurdish fighters in control of Afrin to be “terrorists”. Since 2018, there have been a series of attacks against Turkish targets in the area.
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